How to Make Almond Butter

Posted on Monday, July 22nd, 2013.

I’m normally not a huge fan of almond butter. I mean, given the choice, peanut butter would always win over almond butter any day. But a few weeks ago, I went to buy some almond butter because almonds are clearly more nutritious than peanuts and I had resolved that I would learn to love it because of the superior health benefits of almonds over peanuts. The only problem was that when I reached for a jar in my grocery store, I almost dropped it when I saw the price – $10.99! I saw a smaller, 12 oz jar for $8.99 but still…I decided I would figure out how to make it myself.

And man oh man, I am so glad I did too because I made it even better than any store bought almond butter I’ve ever had. Even more so than Justin’s (and for a whole lot cheaper). I added in a few special ingredients that are totally optional, but I think they make this almond butter amazing. Now that I’ve made my own and come up with such a great recipe, I would take this over peanut butter any day of the week. I think it tastes better and I feel a lot better knowing that I’m getting lots of nutrients and healthy fats.

You really only need almonds and a food processor (or a high power blender) to make almond butter, but I also added in some honey and a fat pinch of sea salt for a subtle, yet perfect salty-sweet balance, and some coconut oil to 1.) give a really creamy texture, and 2.) sneak in some extra healthy fat. The result was AMAZING. Every afternoon since I made my first batch, I look forward to snack time – an apple and almond butter – and it has kind of been my favorite thing to eat lately.

Click through for the full instructions! :)

Let me first start by saying that making almond butter isn’t necessarily easy – it’s not difficult, no – but it’s not like you can just whip up a batch super quick for a snack. It’s certainly not as easy as making almond milk. I’ve seen other bloggers talk about how easy it is and didn’t take them much time, but that has not been my experience (just keepin’ it real!). It takes a while – like an hour, maybe more, maybe less depending on your food processor – but in the end, I think it’s worth it because 1.) you know exactly what’s going in to it and can even tweak it to your preferences, 2.) it’s much more cost effective than buying store bought (I can buy a 1lb bag of raw almonds at my grocery store for $5, which will yield 16oz of almond butter) and, 3.) it really is kind of amazing when it finally comes together and you feel like you just did the impossible.

When you start out, you’ll want to make sure your almonds are dry. If you’ve rinsed them for any reason, make sure they are super dry by the time you’re ready to use them. You don’t add any of the optional add-ins until the end – let the almonds do their thing uninterrupted first.

First, grind down your almonds to meal – this is almond meal, if you want to make almond flour with out first making milk, you would take this and dry it out in a dehydrator or in your oven at it’s lowest setting for a few hours.

Once I’ve gotten my almonds ground down to pulp, I like to switch out the blade for a dough hook. The reason being, I noticed the blade would eventually throw the almonds up the sides and the blade would just spin without coming in contact or mixing the almonds. No matter how many times I stopped and scraped down the sides, the blade just wouldn’t incorporate them – but when I switched out to this dough hook, it started working immediately. The edges have more surface area to grab the almonds, rather than slicing right through them. You may be able to make almond butter with just your regular blade. I know a lot of people have, but this is what worked best for me.

UPDATE: I have a pretty big food processor, so I discovered that if I double this recipe, then I can leave the regular blade on because the added quantity seems to give the blades enough to go through, rather than just pushing it up the sides. I hope that makes sense…? Basically – if you don’t have a dough hook, no worries. Just make sure you have enough almonds so that there is constant mixing. If they just push up the sides and the blade goes round and round without touching the almonds, then you need more.

After a few minutes, the almond pulp will start get gather more moisture. This is just the almond releasing it’s oils, and that’s a good sign. Keep going.

After a while, the texture will change almost to a play-dough consistency. That’s a sign that you’re about 75% there. Keep going. Also – experiment with speeds on your food processor or blender. If you’re not seeing much happening after a while with the speed set to high, set it to low or medium for a while and sometimes that helps break it up.

Finally you’ll get to a point where it’s just about there and you feel like finally – finally! – it’s going to miraculously turn in to almond butter. This is the point at which I like to add the coconut oil, honey and salt. I feel like the almonds have pretty much released most of their oils and the honey and coconut oil help it along in the final stretch.

Success! A creamy and smooth almond butter at last.

Ingredients and Equipment

3 cups raw almonds

food processor or high powered blender

rubber spatula for scraping down the sides

Optional Add-Ins

2-3 tablespoons honey

2-3 tablespoons coconut oil

pinch of sea salt

Directions

Start with dry almonds – place in food processor and blend on high until the almonds are the consistency of fine meal.

If desired, switch out blade for dough hook (UPDATE: I no longer need to switch out the blade for a dough hook, see my note above for full details). Continue blending for several minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides as you go along.

Keep blending until almonds have released almost all their oils – when the almonds are about the consistency of play-dough – and add in coconut oil, honey and sea salt or any additional flavorings you like. Or, just leave plain if that suits you!

Blend for a few more minutes until finally – miraculously! – it turns in to a smooth, creamy consistency just like any other almond butter you’ve had.

Store in refrigerator.

Yields 16oz almond butter.

Some Tips:

If your food processor or blender gets really hot and is heating the almonds, give it a rest. Not only for the benefit of your appliance, but it seems to me that the almonds release their oils better at room temperature. I don’t know if this is true or not, but from my experience, when I’ve been blending for a long time and no new changes in consistency are happening, I walk away for a while and let it all cool down and by the time I come back and start blending again, it progresses almost immediately.

Also, take your time and just keep at it. I swear, every time I make this, I get to a point where I think it’s not going to work, and then out of nowhere, the almonds just finally come together to make the butter. Every time it shocks me!

One last thing – I like to store mine in the fridge. I’m not sure if you absolutely have to, but all the labels of natural nut butters usually say to, so I do. If you find it’s not very spreadable once refrigerated, just leave it out on the counter for a few minutes, or heat up your serving size just enough to get it to be a little more malleable.

If you try it, be sure to let me know how it goes! I love hearing tips and tricks from you guys if you discover them so make sure to share with everyone in the comments :)

68 Responses to “How to Make Almond Butter”

I was looking online for some healthy alternatives, and I found your site. I LOVE the way you present the information, from the ingredients list to the preparation! I can’t wait to try some of the recipes. This one for almond butter looks GREAT…

Amazing recipe – thank you so much for sharing! I just tried this with both raw and roasted almonds and I prefer the roasted version, hands down. I found the raw version had kind of a bitter aftertaste, but the roasted version ended up tasting like heaven!

Love the DIY, but have you ever tried Barney Butter? It’s not cheap, but it’s amazing. They use blanched almonds so there is no gritty texture like other almond butters. It tastes just like peanut butter but a bit less sweet. Publix (surprisingly) and Whole Foods usually carry it. http://www.barneybutter.com/

It’s a Ninja! However! I just discovered that if I double the recipe, then I don’t need to use the dough hook because the extra quantity seems to give the blades enough to grab and not just push it up the sides without doing much.

This turned out great even though I did not add the additives. I soaked the almonds overnight in salted water then dried them on a very low heat in oven. I found the butter less bitter. This was very delicious. Thanks

Hi Katy, Your site is beautiful! Just got done making your recipe for Almond Butter and it turned out great! I used my Nutri Bullet with the milling blade first then moved the “dough” to my mini food processor to add in the options (only made half a batch) and it is delish! Went to have my husband try it and didn’t think he was going to give it back….he loved it right out of the jar by itself! Thank you for all your tips & tricks as I am a newbie to DIY and making better food choices (down 31 lbs since May, hurray!) I always have your Almond Milk in the refrig too and have a ton of the flour as well (since I wouldn’t dream of throwing away the pulp after meeting you, lol) but haven’t made anything with it yet…but I will and I’m sure it will be from your site!

Wow, Julie thank you SO much for your sweet comment. You just made my day :) I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying my recipes and tutorials – and 31 lbs since May?! What an inspiration you are, keep up the great work. You should be so proud of yourself. Thanks again for the kind words!

Hi Katy! Just wanted say that the first time I made this, I thought it was going to burn up my Cuisinart and it turned out real grainy in texture, but we still ate it. I just figured that I hadn’t blended long enough, but was afraid for the life of my Cuisinart. Anyways, I think I figured out what went wrong~ I had stored the almonds in the freezer and they were way too cold for the process. Today I lightly toasted them and then did your process and it came out awesomely smooth and much quicker this time. Totally impressed. I also wanted to comment on Julie loosing the 31 lbs. since May~ that is fantastic! I have lost 50 lbs. since February eating cleaner and finding you and your recipe ideas has given me more help then I can say. Along with walking my rescued Rottweiler puppy! :P Thank you Katy! I also have some ideas using the almond and coconut flours that I have accumulated in making the milks. I recently purchased several cases of the “pretty blue” :) vintage colored Commemorative Embossed Ball pint jars w/lids and will be filling them with the different “flours” and tying them with ribbons and labels and a copy of a tried and true recipe to give them as Christmas gifts to all my ladies. Thought you would get a kick out of this. Thanks again Katy! Inspire away! :)

Oh how cute!! I might be stealing your idea for Christmas gifts myself, ha! Such a great idea. Also – thanks for letting me know about toasting the almonds, I am going to try that myself because I always get a pretty grainy texture that I really like, but I’m curious to see if I can get a smoother texture. Thanks for the tip! And congrats on your weight loss!! What an inspiration. As always Lin, thanks for the sweet comment :)

Help! I’m making this right now, for about an hour and a half, in my ninja, and it’s the square one so I have to stop it every 10 seconds. I think I added the stuff too soon and kinda have a mess on my hands. Should I add more almonds so that there’s enough mass to keep moving? Or is it too late in the process? I want to save this batch! It’s still tasty just now really butter.

Hey! Just saw your comment and I’m afraid I might be a little late. I’ve had the most success when I use more almonds ( I think you and I have the same food processor). The extra bulk seems to help in keeping things moving. If you gave up but kept the almond meal you were working with, you can still use it and you can still add more almonds to it. Hope this helps!!

I used your tips and made mine in my Nutribullet….using the milling blade first. It would not hold 3 cups of course, but I would say one cup is the perfect amount to start with. Once milled I switched to the other blade…added a tsp or so of agave syrup, a pinch of salt and about 1 tsp of coconut oil and I have to say it is delicious! This is one of my go to snacks with a small apple or spread on Wasa multi grain toast.

Hey! I’d like to try this, but I have a question..you see, I usually make my own almond milk, and have the almond meal left over afterwards, which I put in the oven for a while to dry it out, my question is: does this “flour” that I have left work for this? or did all the oils go with the milk?

Do you mean will the flour that you’ve made be able to make almond butter? No, it won’t work because you’ve dried it out and taken away all the fats and oils necessary to make almond butter. Hope this helps!

I just found your blog and I am happy to say that you my dear have a new follower :) I can’t wait to try this out and make some almond flour also. Question… making almond flour this way, would I still want to soak them first? Because I usually see that almond flour says it is made by blanched almonds. Thanks so much!

Thank you for the recipe! I am so excited to try this. I wasn’t too impressed with Raw organic Almond butter as a substitute for peanut butter on a sandwich, BUT let me tell you…any regular raw almond butter will taste AMAZING inside a frozen banana shake. I really think the two flavors complement each other. Just freeze your bananas after they have gotten brown skins and add to the blender with some raw almond butter and your choice of milk (I like coconut milk, especially in my banana shake) and some chia seeds and SO GOOD. You have to try it. :D

I tried this and it’s awesome!
I never had almond butter before but it being healthier and all I thought I’d give it a go. Plus here in Seoul I wouldn’t even know where to get almond butter and all the peanut ones are full of sugar and crazy expensive.
No more store bought for us!! EVER.

I made this tonight and it is awesome! I used 4 tbsp coconut oil and more salt to get the texture and taste to my liking. Husband loved it with apples and my 2 year old ate it with jelly in a sandwich.

OH MY GOD finally a site that admits this takes longer than 5 minutes! But honestly, I don’t know what specifically I’m doing wrong but so far I’ve been at this for an hour and a half and I still don’t have a creamy texture. Maybe it’s the fact I added in honey and coconut oil before the almonds released their oils, maybe my almonds were heating up, I really don’t know why mine is still clumpy. But now I don’t even care. I’m just happy to have found a blog site that isn’t all like “yeah this totally takes 5 minutes” WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT

Hey Katy. Have you tried to use this recipe in smoothies? Husband just had oral surgery and was looking up smoothies on pinterest when I cam across your recipe. This sounds really good and my honey is super healthy so I’m thinking he will love this. I just want to see how it handles being blended with other ingredients. Thanks.

Thanks for the recipe. What did I do wrong? I tried it a few days ago but it never got creamy. It’s edible mind you, but not “creamy” like I know peanut butter to be. My processor got really hot, my nuts were smoking, tried it in a Health Master blender but no creamy almond butter :(. One positive thing though, it tastes great! Will definitely try again to see if I get different results.

I found your recipe on Pinterest and made it yesterday in my Vitamix–turned out beautifully! I also was one of the people who took my almonds directly from the freezer, but with several breaks in between processing, it (luckily) turned out smooth and creamy, no grittiness or bitter aftertaste like some other people commented. The mixture did get rather warm, though, so next time the nuts will be room temp. Thanks for the great recipe!

Thank you for the recipe and above all the explanations! I would have probably given up if I hadn’t read your comments and seen the pictures.
You indeed need a whole lot of patience but it is rewarding to finally manage it (took me a good 1/2h). I used hazelnut oil and it tastes delicious! 200g of almonds gave me 100g of almond butter. Just made paleo muffins with my almond oil!

Hi. I just bought a mid range Bosch 1250 watt food processor and it failed to pulverised the almond nuts. I actually soak the almonds bcos Dr. Oz says it’s better to soak the raw almonds. I blend it for almost 2 hours and still it couldn’t turn into creamy butter. It stuck at being like a dry powdery dough. Sigh… I wonder what went wrong. I prefer not to add anything, just raw. Any advice on this? I can email you the picture how it look like after 2 hours. I think I don’t have that dough hook. So, I guess I need to add more almonds? I kept this batch in my fridge now and going to try continue to blend it further. Like you have mentioned, the nuts just got push up the sides and the blade goes round and round without touching the almonds, I guess I have to add more almonds with this failed batch?

I don’t have a ninja or a food processor so would a regular blender still work? I’m wondering if the adding of more almonds would be better for it or worse. Any info would be lovely!! I’m excited to make my own!!

Thanks a lot for this recipe! I’ve wanted to make almond butter for a while, but had found a recipe that convinced me. What I liked about yours is the level of detail, and the honesty!
Whew, it was hard work, just about when I thought it was going nowhere, it started to work! :)

Thank you for this lovely recipe! I made some yesterday and I don’t think I left mine long enough to get to the very buttery stage. Regardless, it is totally yummy, my two kids love it and I will be persevering until mine looks like yours! With love all the way from Northern Ireland

Just made this recipe!!
It is better than to buy the almond butter from a store….
And I do think you should store it in the fridge as oils tend to go rancid.
I am using this with black cherry homemade jelly in a sandwich as a snack to boost my energy at work….

I was wondering where you are finding almonds cheap enough to make this more cost effective than store bought? I bought organic almonds from trader joes and at 7.99 a bag (which is cheap for what I can find near me) I was only able to make half a batch which would make store bought way more cost effective. I’d love to know if there is a cheaper source for organic almonds.